Chapter 21: Cake

"Hey Quinn, Pwede mo ba kong tulungan dito?" Cols called me from the kitchen.

"Sure, ano ba ginagawa mo?"

"Hamburgers, but I think I'm doing too many things here." She explains, moving her hands around, showing the state of the kitchen. I look around the kitchen, and indeed, it was a mess; pans and pots everywhere.  Cole is an organized cook. Not for other things, though. No, Yung kwarto niya is always a mess, pero her kitchen must be impeccable.

"Can you take care of the sauces? It's basically just stirring and trying na wag masunog. kaya mo naman, right, quinn?" She asks me seriously.

seryoso ba to? tingin ba niya hindi ako marunong mag halo?

It was, in fact, a hard task, since she had prepared three different types of sauce, making no time to rest between each. Each time I stirred one of them, the other was already bubbling. Once we had finished, we took everything to the table; her idea was to make a self-service hamburger buffet. It was tasty, as always, destroying my so healthy diet.

"Some things never change," Jurio says, laughing at me.

"ha?" I raise my head to watch her with my mouth full of burger.

"You have sauce everywhere, Quinn," she says, passing her finger on my chin and then on my nose tip.

I frown; indeed, some things never changed. She used to love doing this when I was eating something with chocolate and got smeared all over my face. She used to love taking it with her finger and spreading it on my nose.

I have a theory: I think my mouth is too small, but my stomach thinks otherwise, not allowing me to take small bites. My stomach is impatient, like the rest of me, we could say. I have to take large bites. What happens? If the food contains sauce, it goes all over my face.

No, I'm not exaggerating; really, all over. Last time I ate a hot dog containing tomato sauce, somehow na spread ko yung sauce all over my fricking forehead.

I take a napkin to clean my mess.

After finishing eating, everyone goes to the living room around the TV to watch the match: Barcelona versus Bayern. "Sorry, Cole, I really want to support Barça here, but it's being difficult with their awful defense."

My sibling Cole is a Barcelona supporter; I believe it started when Ronaldinho Gaucho used to play for them, and since then she is a huge fan. She watches every match. The thing is they are playing very poorly tonight, losing 1x3, and we are still in the first half.

She is puffing, screaming, hitting things, and glares at me after my observation. Soccer's mood can be worse than PMS.

When the first half completed, Jurio goes up to get us more beers.

"There's this club opening next Saturday; we should go," Matthew says.

"Uhm, yeah, it could be good" Cols responds.

"Yeap" the other guys responded.

"You should come too, Quinn," Matthew tells me, taking a sip of his beer and his eyes on me.

"Okay" I respond, taking my beer from Jurio.

My eyes found Maxine for a second; her eyes are burning on me, driving me hot under her stare; a heat flow comes up to me, reddening my cheeks. I turn around to focus on something else to cool me down, taking a sip of my beer. Although I can still feel her stare.

Nakabuo na naman sila ng usapan na hindi ko na napansin, ang napansin ko lang ay bumangon si Matthew, discoursing

"Come on, man, Kayang gawin ’yan ng lahat the guy earns millions, how couldn't he do a simple movement like…" He lifts his right leg until it is almost 90 degrees with his waist, making a turning movement with his hip, keeping his leg at his waist level as if he will kick a ball on the side; that he performs moving, when we all hear a ripping noise, causing Matthew to halt his actions and google his eyes.

Cole, who is closer to him, turns herself to watch Matthew's back and bursts out laughing. Jurio gets up fast and examines what has made Cols laugh so hard and bursts out laughing as well.

Matthew is red, trying to hide her back against the wall. I decide I have to check whatever drives them laughing so hard because they are breathless laughing, red, crying even, not being able to explain what the hell is happening.

I move quickly, trying to view Matthew's back, but Jurio is faster and blocks me, not allowing me to check.

"What the hell?"

"Sorry, it's censored," Cole says between hard breaths.

"Man, you could at least wear underwear; I was not prepared to check your bare ass like that during a weekday," Jurio completes.

I look at Jurio with open, freaking eyes. Okay, thank you, Jurio, for catching me before I check Matthew's ass. The asshole rips her pants and isn't even using underwear? Freak.

"Yeah, exactly; you're welcome, Quinn."

I fall laughing as well. These guys, they kill me.

The match results were disastrous: Barcelona 2x8 Bayern.

One ripped pair of pants, one home; Cole, three broken glasses, one killed cactus, and luckily the TV survived the cactus attack.

It was my cactus, the only plant I have succeeded in keeping alive. RIP.

The next day I waited for Jurio close to our apartment.

"Hey, kid," she greets me, kissing my cheeks. I hate when she calls me kid, kiddo, whatever makes me feel like I'm too childish.

"Hey, old man," I greeted her back.

"Sorry, haha. nakakalimutan ko na ayaw mo palang natatawag na ganon," she says, smiling and opening the cafe door for me.

"ako na oorder for us; have you changed your coffee habit?"

"No, ganon pa rin naman siya; I'm still a boring kid," I say, winking at her, remembering how she used to call me that each time I order a cappuccino. "I'll take a table for us," I complete, leaving her on the line.

I missed taking the table to the window. At that moment a couple starts getting close. Jurio comes some minutes after with our drinks and a chocolate cake to share.

"Here," she tells me, placing the cappuccino and a small spoon in front of me.

"So," I start talking, placing my hands around my mug, "tell me everything about your trip." And then I take a sip from it.

"Na uh girl, first you will tell me what happened between you and Remy!" Jurio said firmly, locating the plate containing the chocolate cake between us and taking a spoon of it.

"There is really nothing to say; we broke up," I responded, also taking a spoon from the cake. I am aware I'll eat more cake instead of my cappuccino if I want to eat a fair part of it. Otherwise, Jurio will devour it in seconds. That is probably the reason why she asks me to start talking, so she could concentrate on the cake.

"You guys were together for four years, Quinn; something happened."

"No, and that's the thing; nothing happened, nothing has happened for a while," I said, taking a breath. "It's just over," I said to Jurio.

"At least you seem fine with it; I haven't seen Remy yet. I hope you didn't let him devastate you," she stated with a small chuckle.

"he's perfectly fine; don't worry. Your turn now," I say, smiling and daring to approach the chocolate cake to my side of the table.

Of course, Jurio realizes what I have done.

"Oh, you're evil," she said, shaking her head and making me laugh.

"What do you want to know?"

"Favorite place?"

"Easy, Singapore."

"C'mon, Jurio, don't be so lazy; develop…"

"You just want to steal the cake, Quinn; you're enjoying it; you're a cruel kid, you know?"

Well, I am indeed enjoying it; yet, she knew about it, but she still insists on ordering only one piece of cake to share. Make it two, my friend, and all your problems are resolved.

"Fine, eat first, talk after; you're such a baby; well, we both are."

I don't know which one of us devoured it faster to be able to eat most of the cake. Jurio always awakens this naughty child side of me; I think I do the same to her; she's usually such a polite women, but look at her now, trying to clean all the chocolate on her face with her tongue and just making it worse.

"Don't laugh; you and I both know your face is worse."

Yeah, I know. I decided to get up and go wash my face in the restroom. On the way back, I spotted Liam and Lucas on the line to take a coffee.

"Hi, guys."

"Hey, Quinn," Liam greets me, smiling, and then Liam turns my way too.

"Hi."

"How are you?" I ask them.

"Good, and you? Want to join us for a coffee?" Lucas asks.

Time? Okay.

I come back to my table where Jurio is waiting for my cappuccino, almost cold already.

"Who are they?"

"My classmates."

"Hum," she says, watching Lucas and Liam, who are also looking at our table. I decide to smile back at him.

We finish our coffee while Jurio tells me all her stories during her voyage until we decide to leave.

We move in the direction of the exit; Jurio opens the door for me and then places her arm on my shoulder on the way out.

"What the…" I look at her, and she's smirking. Turning my head to my left, I see Liam watching us leaving the cafe.

And in a sudden move, once we are outside, Jurio takes off her arm around me to check on two girls one is wearing all pink and one is wearing pastel purple, they're going inside the cafe, probably not wanting them thinking she's with me.

I turn my head to understand what just happened.

"Siraulo ka" I said, slapping the back of her head; she smirks at me while scratching where I have just hit her.

I try to argue with her on the way back to the apartment, but she barely says something; she keeps laughing, too proud of her accomplishment.

I open the door of Cole's apartment, insisting on my discussion with Jurio.

"Seriously, you're getting worse than Cole; I can't believe you…"

"Ano nanamang ginawa ni Jurio ngayon, Quinn?" Cole asks when she heard us arguing, mostly me complaining; I figure Jurio just finds it funny.

"She put her arm around me in front of my classmates."

"Halata namang gustong gusto ka nung lalake na 'yon, Quinn," Jurio defends herself.

"And so?"

"Who is he?" Cole asks. "Is that nerd again?"

"He's not a nerd."

"Yes, he is a nerd," Jurio responds, smirking.

"You did well Jurs, i don't want to see her going out with that nerd," Cole states.

"Ano?" I asked, lifting my hands. "You're fucking kidding me!" Who the hell she thinks she is?

"I know I wouldn't like the situation of you being single. You should just go back and date Remy again."

"You are ridiculous, Cole! You have no right to decide with whom I can or can't go out. If I want to go out with Liam, I will go with Liam. And it's no one of you who will stop me!" I glace at Cole and then at Jurio, who seems to be amused.

I don't even care about dating Liam; I have no will in being more than friends with him. But this whole situation, these two men-children trying to control with whom I go out, just drives me insane.

Just makes me want to call Liam on a date right now and pick me up in front of them.

Damn these two.

Cole was always the big sister jealous type. She was mean to Remy at the beginning of our relationship until she trusted him. It took a good entire year of Remy being the first-boyfriend model, pleasing everyone, especially Cole, who kept making threatening jokes to him.

I can't think; I'm furious with them; I can't even look at them.

So, I rush to my room, being sure they see the fuming smoke leaving my ears, and hear all my puffs, my angry steps, and me hitting the door.

"Coming to my room by mistake again?"

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sorry if madalang mag ud huhu :))